


a thousand pear blossoms

by Hesesols



Series: Eclipse [4]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Chinese Language, F/M, Swordsman AU, Wuxia AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24369952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hesesols/pseuds/Hesesols
Summary: Once upon a time… there was a boy who saw ghosts.Once upon a time… there was a girl who was a Ghost.
Relationships: Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo
Series: Eclipse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1757437
Comments: 6
Kudos: 6





	a thousand pear blossoms

**Author's Note:**

> Think feaudalistic China and mysterious swordsman and Wu Xia.

_Once upon a time… there was a boy who saw ghosts._  
.

. 

_Once upon a time… there was a girl who was a Ghost._

.

. 

It all comes down to this. 

He sizes up the swordsman before him. A plain mask- pitch black much like the rest of his attire with two holes cut into where the eyes are supposed to be and another for the mouth sits upon its face. 

Rumour has it that the masked man is so horribly scarred underneath it that a single look upon that face would bring the seer untold agony. 

Ichigo has never put much stock in rumours but as he locks gaze with that of his diminutive opponent and finds eyes the colour of the twilight sky staring back at his; even he has to wonder if there is perhaps just the slightest hint of truth behind the supernatural origins of the man. 

This is the creature that was said to have committed deeds so vile that upon his death was banished to Hell only to come crawling back out of the gates even deadlier than before. The shape of a man he may take but make no mistake for he is a demon who stalks his prey under the cover of the night with stealth of a feline and wrecks vengeance upon those who dare cross his path. 

They call him _Gui_ for he is a Ghost in every sense of the word- materializing out of thin air then sinking into the shadows just as quickly. His victims- young and old, men and women wore identical expressions of haunted eyes and gasps of surprise. 

The young man purses his lips as he draws out his blade and issues his challenge to the legendary swordsman. 

His reign of terror ends today. 

For too long now the city has lived under his shadow of death and fear- her prominent caste living in a constant state of unrest for fear of being the next unfortunate soul who dies under the blade of the infamous assassin. 

Ichigo inches forward and watches as the man before him unsheathe a blade so pristine that it was the colour of virgin snow and pale moonlight. 

Ghost or not, it still doesn't change the fact that the latter's main disadvantage is his stature. Surely such a master of the deadly arts could have chosen a better shape to take on than that of a child who barely comes up to his shoulders. 

A flicker of humanity and morality gnawed at him but he squashes it and instead tightens his grip on the hilt of his sword. 

He charges with a battle cry that echoes through the valleys of the frozen tundra. The masked man raises his sword to block his attack at the last minute, putting his full weight into the stance as the former pushes against him. 

He pushes forward. 

.

For a second they stand shoulder to shoulder- close enough to each other to see the flecks in each other's eyes. Their breaths short, harsh and laboured; mingling in the cold frosty air as puffs of white smoke against a snow white canvas. 

Just as quickly though they separate and resume their anxious circling- bidding their time to strike, eager and vicious like snakes in a bush. 

The next strike he thought; everything ends with it. 

Only it doesn't. 

.

. 

Not when the Ghost brilliantly feints an attack to the right and then proceeds to knock the air right out of him by sweeping his legs out from under him. He gets up as quick as he could but his lapse in judgment gives the creature the opening to land the first strike. 

Blood- stark red and bright flows freely from his open wound as the sting of it finally registers. 

He grits his teeth and takes on a defensive stance. 

_Again._

Stuck in limbo- time is a concept that does not exist beyond the clangs of their blades as they meet in the backdrop of the darkening sky and the crunch of snow and ice against their boots as they cautiously circle each other. 

The world is silent but their hearts are loud as thunderclaps in the desolate wilderness. Their hearts beat in time to each other. 

_Now!_

His eyes narrowed in resolve as he launches himself at the man. In the split second that follows two things happen- the masked man hesitates and Ichigo shifts his blade. A loud clamour follows as the young man swings his sword down in an arc upon his opponent. 

The masked man is quick and moves out of the way in time. He somersaults backwards and finds his landing gracefully some ten paces away from whence he stood but the damage is done. 

. 

. 

. 

A cracked mask lies in two perfect halves between them. 

Ichigo recovers himself and raises his gaze towards the swordsman. 

He steels himself for the images to come- a dead man with rotten flesh, pools of blood staining the sacred battleground or perhaps even the face of a disfigured man as the latter continues the fight unmasked. 

Instead he meets the gaze of a young girl barely older than his sisters. Her raven-black hair flows unbound as the wind billowed and her skin is the unmarred porcelain- the colour of snow and finally he brings himself to look into her eyes. 

Two pools of gleaming sapphires stare back at him. 

.

Who would have thought that the legendary swordsman, the notorious Ghost of the Karakura City is actually a woman in disguise? 

.

. 

_When the two met… little did they know that their world was never going to be the same again._

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted as Day 2 and 3 of IR Month 2019: Storytelling and Haunted.
> 
> The title is taken from the 白雪歌送武判官归京 (岑参)- the actual verse goes like this 忽如一夜春风来，千树万树梨花开.  
>  When translated- it roughly means: by the sudden spring breeze comes the flowering of a thousand pear blossoms.  
> 
> 
> It's beautiful because pear blossoms are white and the poet used it to signify the heavy presence of snow on the barren trees. He is bidding farewell to the northern winter and going back to the capital city so it's an equal part of sadness and hope. It has a very romantic feel to it.  
> 
> 
> Sorry for the rant but the beauty of chinese poetry- is indescribable.  
> 


End file.
